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At least 883 records · Page 49Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Damage to urban infrastructure and other public property from the 1989 Loma Prieta (California) earthquake.

This research project investigated the damage to public property caused by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The claims filed by state and local governments, special districts and non-profit organizations under the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) disaster assistance program were analyzed to understand better the pattern of damage caused by the earthquake. These claims accounted for nearly $600 million. The damage distribution was very skewed with eleven agencies claiming more than 70 per cent of this total. Non-profit agencies accounted for a surprisingly large portion of overall damage. Heavy damage was concentrated in relatively few areas. The extent of damage in an area was a function of concentration of property, site conditions, characteristics of building stock, and distance from the epicenter.

California↗
PubMed1995

The role of food aid in drought and recovery: Oxfam's North Turkana (Kenya) drought relief programme, 1992-94.

Regional droughts carry the seeds of catastrophe: the immediate risk is famine; the long-term risk is destitution. Preventing both situations is an appropriate, if not essential, goal for relief agencies. In the past, responses to hunger in Turkana District (north-west Kenya) have taken the form of traditional feeding programmes. A better understanding of the boom/bust cycles in pastoralist systems has, however, produced new relief strategies. A central tenet of these strategies is the acceptance that relief aid should assume two roles: humanitarian--to overcome food deficits--and economic--to overcome 'income' deficits. Arguments in favour of a broader role for food aid are tested with a case study of a drought relief programme in north Turkana between 1992-1994. Field studies confirmed that when food aid is integrated as an asset into household resources, it can strengthen economic recovery. Ultimately, the extent to which relief operations are able to protect both people's lives and their livelihoods is the key to more sustainable development in drought-prone areas.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Evaluation of long-term community recovery from Hurricane Andrew: sources of assistance received by population sub-groups.

Two three-stage cluster surveys were conducted in South Dade County, Florida, 14 months apart, to assess recovery following Hurricane Andrew. Response rates were 75 per cent and 84 per cent. Sources of assistance used in recovery from Hurricane Andrew differed according to race, per capita income, ethnicity, and education. Reports of improved living situation post-hurricane were not associated with receiving relief assistance, but reports of a worse situation were associated with loss of income, being exploited, or job loss. The number of households reporting problems with crime and community violence doubled between the two surveys. Disaster relief efforts had less impact on subjective long-term recovery than did job or income loss or housing repair difficulties. Existing sources of assistance were used more often than specific post-hurricane relief resources. The demographic make-up of a community may determine which are the most effective means to inform them after a disaster and what sources of assistance may be useful.

Disasters↗
PubMed1995

Rehabilitation planning for flood affected areas of Thailand: experience from Phipun District.

Floods are common in Thailand. A flood in the southern part of the country in 1988 was of unprecedented magnitude. Several villages and vast tracts of agricultural land were covered with mud slides washed away from deforested hills. Rehabilitation of the affected areas, a task which required complex planning, was a challenge for the District Development Committee (DDC), which is the local level planning body. The Committee encountered several problems, including inability to use the existing data base and lack of accurate information, human resources, adequate funds and coordination among agencies. Unable to cope with the new challenges, the DDC resorted to conventional planning which failed to address the problems caused by the flood. Guidelines should be formulated to strengthen district level planning for rehabilitation after a disaster.

Community Participation↗
PubMed1995

The role of the Zairian Health Services in the Rwandan refugee crisis.

In July 1994, a stream of Rwandan refugees entered the southern part of North Kivu Region, Zaire. The public health consequences of this crisis for the host population and health services have not been analysed up to now. The lack of human and financial resources did not prevent Zairian health structures and personnel from taking care of the many refugees settled outside the camps, following their arrival. The public health consequences of the crisis for the local population should be considered an integral part of the disaster.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1995

Structural adjustment and drought in Zambia.

While drought is not uncommon in Zambia, the country is now facing the worst drought in history. The monetary and social costs will be enormous. Although it is too early to measure the economic and social costs of the drought on Zambia, it is obvious that the impact is catastrophic on a country whose economy is under pressure. The drought will affect the structural adjustment programme (SAP) unveiled by the new government which has embraced the market economy. The country has imported, and will continue to import, large quantities of maize and other foodstuffs, a situation likely to strain the balance of payments. Earlier targets with regard to export earnings, reductions in the budget deficit, and GDP growth as contained in the Policy Framework Paper (PFP) are no longer attainable due to the effects of the drought.

Disasters↗
PubMed1996

Disaster management and government intervention in PNG: the case of Lae.

This paper describes government intervention in two flood disasters in Lae before and after the establishment of the Papua New Guinea disaster management body. It first describes the objectives behind the establishment of this, and second, it examines the organisational response to the 1983 and 1992 disasters in Lae. Disaster response in terms of relief operations is generally prompt and spontaneous but can at best be described as haphazard, unsystematic and often uncoordinated. Both national and provincial disaster committees are, in many aspects, ill equipped in terms of capabilities, skills and resources. Many disaster operations are unable to ensure an immediate return of the victim's lives to normality--the ultimate objective of any disaster management.

Disaster Planning↗
PubMed1996

From relief to development: the long-term effects of 'temporary' accommodation on refugees and displaced persons in the Republic of Croatia.

The increasing scale of international intervention in conflict is generating new pressures on the humanitarian community. Increased expenditure on emergency relief, static levels of overseas development aid and subsequent lack of funds for development are dictating that agencies design relief projects that positively effect developmental reconstruction. This paper examines the provision of shelter for refugees and displaced persons in the Republic of Croatia and identifies ways in which it has encouraged and discouraged sustainable reconstruction. It argues that to promote lasting reconstruction, programmes must focus on saving livelihoods as well as lives, thus minimising the long-term psychological and physical impacts of aid on refugees, displaced persons and host communities.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1996

The World Trade Center bombing: injury prevention strategies for high-rise building fires.

The WTC disaster provided an opportunity to look for ways to prevent morbidity among occupants of high-rise buildings during fires. This paper first describes the overall morbidity resulting from the explosion and fire, and second, presents the results of a case-control study carried out to identify risk factors for smoke-related morbidity. The main ones include: increased age, presence of a pre-existing cardio-pulmonary condition, entrapment in a lift and prolonged evacuation time. Study results point to the importance of the following safety systems during high-rise building fires: smoke-control systems with separate emergency power sources; lift-cars, lift-car position-monitoring systems, and lift-car communication systems with separate emergency power sources; two-way emergency communication systems on all floors and in stairwells; stairwells with emergency lighting and designed for the rapid egress of crowds; evacuation systems/equipment to assist in the evacuation of vulnerable people (elderly, infirm). Also important are evacuation plans that include regularly scheduled safety training and evacuation drills.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of food aid grain delivery.

Grain food aid averages 13 million tons per year. Donors have a duty to deliver food aid grain in an adequate and acceptable condition at least cost. This paper reviews commodity procurement, packaging, inspection, shipping and storage with regard to overall quality assurance and cost-effectiveness. Experience at ports of loading and discharge and in food aid delivery programmes indicates that sufficient attention is rarely paid to quality assurance and loss minimisation. Grain procurement specifications that are normally appropriate for safe handling and storage in temperate climates, particularly moisture content, are commonly inappropriate for tropical climates. The technology for safe delivery of food aid grain is well established but not always implemented. Procurement of food aid grain in developing countries has increased recently, creating a need to improve operational and management aspects of tendering and quality assurance procedures. Such purchases entail potential cost savings but are associated with lengthening delivery lead times for non-urgent consignments. Although woven polypropylene sacks are cheaper to buy than jute ones, the losses associated with handling and storage problems indicate that jute sacks are preferable for food aid delivery.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗
PubMed1996

The symphony of the damned: racial discourse, complex political emergencies and humanitarian aid.

This paper concerns the manner in which the West is responding to protracted political crises beyond its borders. It examines the conceptual world-view that aid agencies bring to complex emergencies and which shapes action. The paper provides an analysis of developmentalism. That is, the currently dominant idea of development which is an adapted form of multiculturalism. It is based on the empowerment of cultural differences and the relativisation of progress. As a variant of multiculturalism, developmentalism is part of Western racial discourse. In terms of understanding conflict, it establishes a mirror-image relationship with new rascist ideas premised on cultural pluralism inevitably leading to social breakdown, violence and anarchy. To the contrary, with its functional view of social harmony, libertine developmentalism claims that even unresolved political crisis constitutes a development opportunity. Developmentalism, like culturalism generally, is incapable of analysing power. It therefore cannot understand the effects and significance of its own organisational forms. Moreover, since the absence of power translates into operational neutrality in a war zone, it is also unable to analyse the nature of new political formations emerging in the global periphery. That is, the so-called weak or failed states, warlords and so on. This functional ignorance has allowed a widespread incorporation of humanitarian aid into the fabric of political violence. Developmentalism is an essential underpinning for the growing organisational accommodation to ongoing conflict and eroding standards of justice and accountability.

Cultural Diversity↗
PubMed1996

Information exchange in the disaster zone: interaction between aid workers and recipients in south Sudan.

The author's experience of information collection and analysis in the Bahr-el-Ghazal region of south Sudan is reflected on here. The paper suggests that existing strategies of needs assessment are often based on misunderstandings about the cultural, social and economic conditions of war-affected communities. Furthermore, the needs assessment process has taken on a life of its own: for the intended beneficiaries it is often a wearying experience, but one which can yield benefits if the 'correct' answers are provided to sometimes ridiculous and often insensitive questions. For the assessors, participatory patterns of data collection provide an apparently scientific justification for decision-making in contexts characterised by complex political and moral dilemmas and organisational confusion.

Cultural Diversity↗